ESPN has agreed to use the Veritone artificial intelligence platform to capture, monitor and measure ESPN’s sports talk programming and live coverage. The AI platform also will be used for television and podcasts and will provide real-time transparency, verification and analytics for ad campaigns.

It’s time we face the facts as media weathercasters: Our viewers’ habits are changing, and nothing we do will pull them back to the traditional, one-platform, linear TV viewing habits. We are in a unique position in that, as more content providers branch into also providing on-the-go weather reports, we are becoming both less valuable and more valuable. We should be embracing the new evolution of on- and off-air weather reporting in the form of augmented intelligence (AI). We must learn to embrace the new or risk becoming uncompetitive in a breakneck market.

BBC’s Trushar Barot says the news industry needs to make artificial intelligence an industry priority. Users are becoming increasingly comfortable with voice as a means of interacting with their technology, he argues, and now is the time to experiment with new apps and skills on voice platforms, invest in R&D there and foster industry-wide forums and collaborations on this front.

The TV landscape is experiencing a period of rapid evolution in terms of technology, business realities and consumption, and this year’s IBC Convention looks to deliver fresh insights. From the role of artificial intelligence in media and 5G to virtualization of workflows and the likely impact of new consumer technologies on media, IBC 2017 will offer perspective.